Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Back from KC

We had a lot of fun on vacation. We'll get back to reality soon enough. A few thoughts from the trip:

If you think the Star Tribune is bad, you should see the Kansas City Star. An aggressively stupid newspaper, but with even less content the Strib.

My new all-time favorite television sports guy is Jack Harry at the NBC affiliate in KC. This guy is gruff, old school, obtuse and unintentionally hilarious. Picture Sid Hartman with a flat top haircut and a gravel voice and you've got the picture.

Claire McCaskill, who theoretically represents Missouri in the Senate, comes off as very silly. She was doing a "town hall" in KC while we were there and even though she put her thumb on the scale in designing the format, she still seemed flustered even though the tough questions were screened out.

We talk a lot about "Minnesota Nice," but the people we met in Kansas City were considerably more friendly than most people you encounter 'round here. And everyone is unfailingly polite.

The difference between Metcalf Avenue in Overland Park, Kansas and France Avenue in Edina is pretty much non-existent.

6 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Mark, glad to hear you all had a nice time. With the exception of a drive by or two, I have never been to KC. Sounds like I should. I do hear that the BBQ is awesome.

One quick request: My cousin Tim Evans, who is a PFC in the Marines and was stationed in Afghanistan, got hit by an IED over the weekend. He is a great kid who blew off a football scholarship to enlist. He was banged up pretty badly, but physically, he should be OK. However, he also sustained a severe concussion, and there's some concerns about long-term effects. Any prayers would be appreciated.

On The Star: I thought it was decent when I've been down there. Then again, that may be just because they have good sports columnists (Whitlock and Posnaski).

Jack Harry: I've visited there all these times and I haven't seen this guy? Dang it!!

Claire McCaskill: Don't know enough about her other than she beat Jim Talent, who I thought had more of a future once. But, it sounds like attempts to suppress dissent at health care town halls still aren't working.

KC friendliness: Not a surprise at all. See, people in other parts of the country are, you know, social. And genuinely nice. They don't have to name their "niceness" after their state. It's been said before, it'll be said again. Minnesota Nice=polite. This is to be taken with a grain of salt. I have read any number of comments on the Strib today calling Wisconsinites hicks, classless, stupid, drunks, etc by supposedly nice Minnesotans, so I am not exactly feeling very welcome here in MN.

Metcalf Ave in Overland Park = France Ave in Edina = Blue Mound Rd in Brookfield = Wisconsin Ave in Bethesda =, well you get the idea. There is pretty much a street like this in every suburban area in the country. But, you knew that.

Overall, glad you enjoyed KC. I hope to head back down there sometime soon. Maybe this time I will even do some touristy stuff...or, just go hang out at Tanner's in OP.

Glad to hear the trip was fun! It sounds like you guys did some fun things. I remember driving by there from the South when I was kid; the exits in Kansas City made my mother INSANE, and we weren't allowed to talk or raise our usual ruckus during that time, unless we wanted to feel her rare, yet terrible wrath.

I am amused and impressed that Mike knows the names of the KC sportswriters. (Is this a male sports fan thing, or a Mike thing?) Also, not sure he will come back to read this comment, but what's up with the anti-WI flava on the Strib? Do you mean comments online, by readers?

People rip on the "Minnesota Nice" characteristic all the time, and I can see the flaws of its real life application. Like Mike says, it means politeness. I also think it means space. Honestly, having spent most of my life in MN, SD and WY, I think of it as a general "reserved Midwesterner" kind of thing.

My hopes and prayers for your cousin, as well, Rich. Afghanistan is a very dangerous place right now; I have a lot of amazement and respect for the people who've had to serve there (past, present, future while it's still unstable).